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JERRY CANTRELL
I Want Blood
Double J Music

If his 2021 Brighten album was a bit too, well, 'bright' - or at least light - for some folks, the fourth solo release from ALICE IN CHAINS's bandleader/guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell should be much more up their alley. With its aptly descriptive title, I Want Blood is feistier and more aggressive, boasting a heaviness and bite that echo AIC at its finest but delivering it with a looseness and moxie that makes it all feel anthemic instead of brooding.

Though it certainly retains the rich harmonies and fetching melodies that have typified Cantrell's work both with AIC and on his own for 30-plus years, I Want Blood is a pretty kick-ass outing. It ably mixes bold, punchy hard rockers with somber numbers that still deliver plenty of crunch, making for Cantrell's most impactful effort since his second solo album Degradation Trip back in 2002.

The bluesy, folksy flourishes that enjoyed some prominence on Brighten have but a minor role here, most notably on the slide guitar forays on the Western-tinged "Afterglow". In their place, I Want Blood revels in muscular riffs and big hooks, chunky and at times spry tempos, and rousing, effortlessly infectious choruses/harmonies. Indeed, the revved-up title track is downright punky, with its simple, slashing guitar lines and holler-along chorus echoing FOO FIGHTERS to a degree.

"Vilified" sets the tone at the outset with its determined chug and is followed by the more deliberate "Off The Rails" that while slower is also ballsier, to the point of sounding "metallic". Here, Cantrell adds layer upon layer of guitar and accents the booming riffs with soaring, MAIDEN-like licks and piles on the vocal harmonies. "Held Your Tongue", later down the track list, offers much the same swagger and heft.

Where the post-resurrection AIC albums have been drawn out and somber, indeed desolate at times, especially 2013's The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, I Want Blood - like Brighten - is comparatively direct and maintains its spunk even when the tempos slow or the mood sours. Though largely laid back and somewhat sparse, "Echoes Of Laughter" builds to a resounding lead break that carries through to a stirring finish, a la GUNS N' ROSES, whose Duff McKagan guests on bass.

The bulkier but still easy going "Throw Me A Line" ratchets up the grit and volume for its hard-edged yet also ethereal choruses. "Let It Lie" takes a similar approach, though it is cloaked in the doomy, grungy histrionics that have long been an AIC staple. Even the aching closer "It Comes" kicks up a bit of fit, if but for a moment, via Cantrell's caterwauling soloing and loping bass lines from METALLICA's Robert Trujillo that come out of nowhere and then fade just as quickly.

As Trujillo and McKagan's presence would indicate, Cantrell has an all-star team of guests helping him out on I Want Blood, many of whom have played with him before, including drummers Gil Sharone (MARILYN MANSON) and Mike Bordin (FAITH NO MORE) and BETTER LOVERS/Ex-DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN vocalist Greg Puciato. Yet even with that pedigree and familiarity, Cantrell is content to carry much of the load, handling all of the richly textured guitars, half of the bass and a good portion of the always resonant vocal harmonies, which speaks to his self-confidence and vision - and that's what a solo album should be about in the first place, right?

And his confidence and vision are certainly justified here. I Want Blood features some of the most enjoyable, bad-ass work Cantrell has done, which is definitely saying something. While there is less separation here from the overall sonic palette of ALICE IN CHAINS than on his previous solo albums, at this stage that hardly matters since Cantrell has become the embodiment of the band as it is anyway.

4.0 Out Of 5.0